


Snap, Crackle, Pop

by emj1s



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crack, Fix-It, Fluff and Crack, Jealous Bucky Barnes, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), what we want end game to be, what we wanted infinity war to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 11:19:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18590197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emj1s/pseuds/emj1s
Summary: “What happened?” Bucky croaks, turning back to Steve, watching as he looks down at the ostentatious gold on his arm and slowly pulls it off, weighing it in his right hand.“Some bullshit,” Steve says flatly, rearing his arm back and launching the gauntlet through the nearest tree.--Or, Thanos doesn't account for who all, exactly, might be on which half of the universe's population.





	Snap, Crackle, Pop

“You should’ve aimed for the head,” Thanos says, weak but victorious, confident in a way that slices ice through everyone’s hearts. The snap echoes across the grass, and it feels as though the whole world stops.

_“Steve?”_

It sounds from behind him, and by the time Steve’s turned, Bucky’s half gone, washing away - he hits the ground in a puff of ash, and Steve feels his heart wrench from his body to follow him.

All around them, they fade - their friends, their family, they’re all melting away, lost to the gentle breeze and the shining sun. It’s a beautiful day to die - Steve had thought it while running across the field with T’Challa, but not about them - not about Bucky. Never about Bucky.

“No,” Steve whispers, stumbling his way to Bucky, and his hands fall to ground he doesn’t remember dropping down to. Gloved palms press into ash, fingertips stain grey -

“Where’d he go?” Steve says, head whipping to look up - “Thor?”

“Nowhere,” Thor says, staring like he’s seen a ghost, like he’s seeing the strangest sight he’s ever seen, and panic lurches in Steve’s stomach - a God is staring like he’s afraid, and Steve Rogers may not be the most devout of men, but it’s enough to inspire a little fear. “He’s - Steve--”

Steve’s turns to look, and sees Thanos, a hulking purple mass, still kneeling in the grass. He’s bleeding from his shoulder, Thor’s axe still buried deep in the twists of muscle and flesh. Thor grips the wooden handle and rips it out of his torso, causing a deep, pain filled groan to be torn from the prone figure on the ground. Just as he rears back to finish the job, to slice clean through his skull, it happens.

Flakes float silently from the top of Thanos’ head, dancing in the wind, and Thor, Steve, everyone - freezes. It’s slow, yet quick at the same time. One moment the greatest evil they’ve ever encountered is there, on the ground, so close to being defeated - and the next he’s a cloud with all the others, drifting away.

A clank shakes Steve out of his stupor, his absolute disbelief - surely, he thinks, surely Thanos would have _specified_ \- half the universe, but not _him,_ he couldn’t have included _himself -_ and yet.

And yet.

Steve pushes himself to his feet and stumbles to Thor’s side, both of them staring at the golden gauntlet on the ground. The stones are worn, cracked, seeming to be protesting, but still, Steve picks the thing up and slips it onto his own hand. It’s comically large - resting near above his damn elbow, but not impossible to maneuver. It’s not comfortable, but not unmanageable, and Steve’s heart twists from somewhere far away, urging him, giving him no choice--

He snaps his fingers.

* * *

 

“What the fuck,” Bucky gasps, wrenching himself up from the ground, stumbling a few steps. He near trips over his damn gun, foot tangling in the shoulder strap and shin catching the barrel, but there’s a big hand wrapping around his bicep and keeping him from smacking into the ground. He raises his head, shaking his hair out of his eyes, and sees Steve’s face. Something settles in him at the sight, and that feeling expands at the relieved, damn near overjoyed smile that twists Steve’s face as he releases Bucky.

“Steve,” Bucky says, taking him in and pausing when he sees the gauntlet. Steve’s still wearing it, and the stones look dead - not vibrant, not glowing, there’s nothing there, no power left to pull from. He’s confused; the last time he’d seen that gauntlet, it’d been on Thanos’ giant hand, glowing shiny and effervescent. He whips around immediately, searching, but there’s no giant purple monster to be seen.

“What happened?” he croaks, turning back to Steve, watching as he looks down at the ostentatious gold on his arm and slowly pulls it off, weighing it in his right hand.

“Some bullshit,” Steve says flatly, rearing his arm back and launching the gauntlet through the nearest tree.

* * *

 

Two days later, a ship lands neatly on the outskirts of the barrier line. The Wakandans haven’t yet fixed the thing, so the ragtag little team can cross without incident. Before the fight with Thanos, a blue skinned robot woman and another woman with antenna would have raised some questions, at the very least, but as it is, they have no issue once the short, bearded one drops Steve’s name. The frightened looking child they have with them urges some sympathy as well, and they’re taken to the castle by the first group of guards they encounter.

“Tony,” Steve says as he enters the throne room where they’ve all gathered. Introductions are made, hugs exchanged, and Tony’s hand claps onto Steve’s shoulder. Steve returns the touch with a cautious nod. There’s tension, but it goes unaddressed - after everything, priorities have to be made.

“What happened,” Tony asks, his eyes darting around the room, taking in the crowd gathered - the familiar faces and the unfamiliar, and then gives a double take, because hold on, is that a _racoon?_

“Some bullshit,” the racoon - Rocket, someone had said - pipes up, and Steve barks out a laugh.

“I like him,” Steve says quietly with a nod to Rocket, looking towards Bucky, and he sees the way Bucky’s face darkens into a glower at the very suggestion. Immediately Steve rolls his eyes.

“Do you now,” Bucky says flatly, arms crossing over his chest, black metal gleaming and catching the sun through the window. No one misses the way Steve’s exasperated eyes trace the gold lines before raising back to Bucky’s face.

“Excuse me,” he says, “did I suck the raccoon’s dick last night?”

“You don’t know what we did,” Rocket shoots back. He’s moved towards his friends, and has climbed his way up to Drax’s shoulder, perched and swiping a chip from the bag that Drax offers him.

“Vaguely rapey,” Tony says absently, watching the racoon and the - tree? The tree that’s settled near it.

“Only if he’s not into it,” Quill chimes in, moving to lean against the wall next to the rest of the aliens.

“What’s rapey about it?” Steve asks, distracted from his conversation with Bucky to look around, confused.

“You think I can’t consent?” Rocket agrees, eyes narrowing at Tony. “Just because I’m not a Pepto Bismol sack of meat?”

“Well - no, I--” Tony tries.

“Shut up Stark,” Rocket finishes.

“How does he even know what Pepto Bismol is?” Tony asks, though no one is paying attention, and Bucky is smirking, mirth shining in his eyes.

“...I like him,” he agrees with Steve. The two look back at one another, their expressions softening into something easily affectionate, and something clicks for Tony then.

“Wait,” he says abruptly, “you sucked Barnes’ dick?” And all at once he can feel a dozen blank looks aimed at him.

“Oh my god,” Bucky mutters in disbelief, and the sentiment is echoed in everyone’s face when Tony looks around. Even Bruce is staring at him like he’s grown a second head, and Tony feels his defenses raise.

“He just said--!” Tony starts, and Natasha nods.

“Yes, he did,” she says, like she’s explaining something to a child.

“You didn’t know?” Sam asks gleefully, and he’s smiling a gap-toothed grin like Christmas has come early. _“How?”_

“Sh-” Tony starts, “shut up - I had - I had other things to worry about, okay--” he looks around wildly, and throws his arm out to point at Steve, who is staring at him in utter confusion. “Like - like Steve betraying his country!”

“Yeah,” Natasha says, “for _Barnes.”_

“My country betrayed me first,” Steve says petulantly, and Bucky rubs a sympathetic touch to his back.

“Tony,” Bruce says, in the kindest, gentlest, downright pitying voice, “did you really not know?”

“Listen--” Tony tries.

“Stark,” Rocket says disbelievingly.

“Groot,” Groot says.

_“Groot!”_ Rocket snaps, disgusted. “Sorry, he’s the Groot equivalent of a...what do you call ‘em, Millennials?”

“Millennials are older,” Peter pipes up for the first time, arms still crossed tight over his chest, and Tony tosses him his best disappointed face. It’s completely ignored.

“Gen X?” Steve tries.

“Gen- what, are you making robots now?” Quill snaps.

“The robots are unrelated to that,” Bucky says, waving his left fingers to show Quill the mechanics. Nebula’s black eyes light up at the sight, and soon the two of them are a few feet away from the group, comparing bionic limbs.

“Yeah,” Peter tells Steve. “That’s right, Mr. - Captain, Rogers. Sir.”

“Just Steve is fine, kid,” Steve says, and Peter’s eyes go the size of saucers.

“Oh, okay. _Steve,”_ he says, voice raising in pitch, and a sort of fatherly jealousy coils in Tony’s chest.

“Big deal,” he scoffs, “you can call me - wait no, don’t call me Tony, just - just stick with Mr. Stark for now--”

“Kinky,” Drax says, slowly raising a chip to his mouth. Tony pays no attention as Peter’s face goes bright red.

“Where did you get chips,” Quill deadpans, looking like the sight of the bag in Drax’s hand has aged him twenty years.

“Can we focus!” Tony interjects, trying to get the conversation back under some sort of control, “on Manchurian Candidate and Capsicle over here?”

“Are you ever going to get better nicknames, or should we just resign ourselves to these,” Bruce asks tiredly.

“Um,” a voice sounds from behind them, and everyone tenses, turning to see Clint in the doorway of the throne room, bow in hand and quiver on his back.

“The fuck is this?” Quill asks, waving a hand.

“Where have you been?” Natasha asks, muted danger in her voice, but no one finds it quite as threatening as they would have before all of this.

“On a goddamn farm until Laura turned into dust for, like - five minutes,” Clint says, throwing his hands up. “What the hell happened?”

“Some bullshit,” Bucky pipes up around a mouthful of chips, now leaning against the wall with Drax. Sam snorts.

“Am I just not allowed to retire?” Clint asks, “I try to retire again and half the world disappears, and then I hear rumors you guys are here and you might need help--”

“Yeah,” Rocket cackles, “Oh yeah, we need _your_ help - What’re you gonna do with those, Arrow Boy?”

“My wife disappeared!” Clint shouts, gripping his bow like a security blanket.

“So did Steve’s,” Peter mutters, and Bucky flashes the kid a dangerously excited smirk.

“I mean, technically, we did get married in 1945,” Steve agrees with a shrug.

“1946,” Bucky corrects, crunching another chip.

“No, we were in Germany.”

“Yeah. We were in Germany in 1946.”

“Oh my god,” Tony breathes, “they _are_ married.” Steve doesn’t so much as spare Tony a look, but he hears him regardless, and the stubborn set of his jaw relaxes, eyes going soft as he keeps them on Bucky. Bucky's lips quirk up in a cocky little smile, and he looks seconds away from shrugging off the wall to get his hands on Steve, observers be damned. Then-

“Wait.” Tony’s accusatory finger flies back up, this time aimed at Bucky, who glares back just as accusingly. “Why does _he_ get chips? I want chips.”

“Jesus Christ,” Steve says, exasperated, and turns, knowing the moment is over.

“Come get them,” Bucky says menacingly, reaching for another handful and shoving it into his mouth, and Tony reconsiders.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow can you guys believe that the MCU ended directly after this scene in Infinity War?
> 
> Betaed by [ brokenpitchpipe,](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenpitchpipe) who also contributed a good chunk of the dialogue.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Come find me on [tumblr!](https://witchyturneywrites.tumblr.com)


End file.
